Purpose:
Ageratum conyzoides is an annual herbaceous plant
commonly used in African traditional medicine as a
purgative, antipyretic, anti-ulcer and wound dressing
agent. The objective of this study was to investigate
the acute and sub-chronic toxicity of A. conyzoides
leaves in Wistar rats.
Methods:
In the acute test, the limit test dose of 5000 mg/kg was
administered to Wistar rats and then observed
individually 1 h post-dosing, and at least once daily
for 14 days. Sub-chronic toxicity was evaluated after
administering daily oral doses of 500 and 1000 mg/kg
body wt., for 28 days to the rats, Biochemical and
haematological assessments as well as body and relative
organ weights of the rats were carried out
Results:
The limit dose of 5000 mg/kg did not cause any mortality
or signs of acute toxicity in the rats tested during the
observation period. In the sub-chronic tests, the
results did not show any treatment–related abnormalities
in terms of haematological and biochemical parameters.
However, urea was significantly (p < 0.05) lower in the
group treated with 500 mg/kg of A. conyzoides extract.
The weekly body and organ weight of the rats showed no
significant differences between the control and the rats
treated with the extract except for liver where there
was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in rats that
received 1000 mg/kg, i.e., 3 ± 0.2 g as against 2.5 ±
0.1 g for the control.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that the hydroalcohol extract of A.
conyzoides is relatively safe when administered orally
in rats.
Keywords:
Ageratum conyzoides, Acute and sub-chronic toxicity,
Biochemical parameters, Haematological analysis, Wistar
rats.
